Fishing tackle, such as fishing hooks, lures, baits, lines, sinkers, or floats, is often stored in a tackle box. Tackle boxes allow these and other items of fishing tackle to be organized so as to be easily retrievable by the fisherman. Tackle boxes also ensure that potentially fragile items are kept spaced apart from one another or are otherwise kept protected from damage, and ensure that certain items of fishing tackle, such as lines or lures, do not become tangled up with one another.
Most conventional tackle box designs are boxes, typically formed from plastic or sheet metal, having several shelves each having a variety of differently-sized compartments, each of which is sized to retain some type of item of fishing tackle. For example, a tackle box might have a shelf with a number of long, thin compartments, each intended to be used to hold a fishing lure laid flat in the compartment. Typically, these shelves are stored such that, when a user opens the top lid of the tackle box, the shelves are splayed outward such that the user can see many of the compartments of each shelf.
However, certain problems with these designs exist. For example, when a fishing lure is put away after use, it will typically be wet; putting these lures away in a box-type container may cause water to pool in the box-type container, causing or accelerating rusting of any of the metal parts of the lure, such as an integrated fishhook. This problem can be particularly acute for users that engage in saltwater fishing; salt residue can cause similar problems even if the lures are allowed to dry before being put away, often necessitating that the lures and even the compartments of the tackle box used to transport the lures be specifically cleaned after use.
Further, despite the fact that many tackle boxes are configured to splay their shelves outward to some degree in order to make their compartments more accessible and more visible, fishing tackle located in a tackle box is often difficult for a user to sort through. For example, a particular compartment may be obscured by a shelf even in an open position, making it difficult for the user to identify the contents of that compartment. In another example, multiple items of fishing tackle may be stacked on top of one another in the same compartment, obscuring from view the items of fishing tackle located lower in the stack.
Also, storing crank-baits, spinner-baits, and other lures inside compartments of a tackle box can result in damage to the paint and finish on the lures. If lures are stored inside compartments of a tackle box, when the tackle box is moved, the lures inside the compartments can shift position inside of the tackle box. If the tackle box is moved sharply, such as if the tackle box is dropped or falls from some height and impacts the ground, the lures can impact the surfaces of the compartments of the tackle box, potentially causing damage to the lures. Further, even routine movement of the tackle box can cause the positions of the lures to constantly shift against the surfaces of the compartments, creating friction between the lures and the surfaces of the compartments, which can damage the paint and finish of the lures.